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Cuomo & Paladino Ignore Each Other in Debate with Five Other Candidates

Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Carl Paladino did not even allude to one another as they shared the stage with minor party candidates in the only scheduled gubernatorial debate.

Click Here for a full report from WXXI Capitol Bureau Correspondent Karen DeWitt. Click Here for a story on the debate from NPR's Robert Smith.

Click Here for the Vote Up NY! website to answer the question of the day for October 19: Patricia Malgieri has announced that she will resign as Rochester's deputy mayor. On what date will she be stepping down?

Comments

While I admit some of the minor party candidates were entertaining in their appearance or method of speaking, their messages in last night's debate were as serious and valid as any other on that stage.

I had never heard of most of those candidates until last night, but it was refreshing to hear some real discussion.

I had hopes for Paladino, but he failed to deliver by stuttering and messing up his words the entire night, not to mention he failed in almost every attempt to answer a question anywhere near completion in the time allowed. And of course, he is anti-gay marriage.

McMillan, or the Rent is Too Damn High guy, made a valid argument. Our taxes are TOO DAMN HIGH. All the other candidates were saying the same thing, but simply used other words, except Cuomo who quoted Jimmie saying "I agree with Jimmie, the rent IS too damn high." McMillan made a good point and if looking a little different gets him noticed so that people become aware of a problem and actually discuss it, then more power to him.

Cuomo was a joke for most of it. He sat there with a smug look as if to say in body language, "I've already won this. I'm just here to laugh at the other characters and smile so you know my name and face." He continually tip-toed around answering questions by rattling off statistics and making claims about how bad things are, but rarely did he introduce details about what he would do to fix things. The best answer I recall him making was with regards to corruption in government and how he would hold people accountable for breaking the law. The rest was vague answers like saying that he would cut spending... but not WHAT he would cut.

Barron I think was a little too focused on "giving back" to the black community. While I am not in a position to say whether his message had substance, I can only imagine that it did or he wouldn't have as many supporters as he does. He got a lot of applause during the debate. I think his downfall was that he came short when talking about other issues.

Howie Hawkins was a true possibility. He addressed every question with a complete answer. Notably, he repeated his support of a progressive tax system which surmounts to taxing the wealthy more to alleviate the taxes of the poor. I need to learn more about Howie, though I don't think I'll be voting for him this time around. I expect him to be a contender in the future, however.

Kristin Davis, history aside, was straight and to the point. Her clear plan to raise revenue (which would help cut taxes) was to do the obvious no-brainer and legalize marijuana (a 100% non-violent crime) and legalize gambling. I forget exactly how much money she said it would raise, but I think her figure was somewhere around $3,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeros!

And last but not least is Warren Redlich. This man coming out of nowhere presented a complete plan and supports gay marriage! He will not only cut spending and lower taxes, but he told us HOW he will do it. In short, he's going to end the thruway tolls which were set up to pay for the thruway which has long been finished paying for. He's also going to eliminate a large percentage of wasteful and redundant government agencies. And, in his answer to the very first question, he said he will cap beurocrat salaries and pensions at $100k and $75k respectively, as there are something like 110,000 beurocrats in NY earning over $100k/year, and something like 50,000 making over $200k/year. Other minor party candidates agree with Warren's plan, but neither Cuomo nor Paladino commented on it, nor did either say what they would do instead. Warren's plan can be put into action today and we'll start saving close to 5 Billion dollars instantly! I think Cuomo mentioned something about a plan to investigate agencies over the next 5 years to see which ones could be cut. 5 YEARS!!! Is he serious? NY needs a plan NOW.

After last night's debate, I think it's clear who I'll be voting for. You can learn more about Warren Redlich, the Libertarian candidate for governor on his campaign website wredlich.com/ny/ or check out his Facebook page to see all of us former Paladino or Cuomo supporters who have after last night's debate done a 180 and now support Redlich fulheartedly!